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Colonel Robert Lee Jackson, Jr

February 18, 1917 ~ May 29, 2008 (age 91)

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Colonel Robert Lee Jackson, Jr., age 91, of Greensboro, Georgia, passed away Thursday, May 29, 2008 at Minnie G. Boswell Memorial Hospital. Born in Greene County on February 18, 1917, he was the son of the late Robert Lee Jackson, Sr. and Nellie Moore Jackson. He was a graduate of Greensboro High School where he was a member of the football team. He graduated 2nd Lieutenant from the University of Georgia in 1941 as class president and a member of the Blue Key and Gridiron Clubs. He loved the University of Georgia and everything about it; especially the football program. This was a lifelong passion of his from the time he was a Boy Scout usher at the first football game played between the hedges at Sanford Stadium (Georgia vs. Yale) until his death. In 1941, General Omar Bradley signed his marriage license when he married the late Jimmie Smith of Commerce, Georgia. In 1946, he was the Mayor of Greensboro, Georgia. For 33 years, he served his country in the United States Army. During World War II, he was a member of the 101st Airborne Division that landed in Normandy at Utah Beach for D-Day and spent time in France, under the command of General Anthony McAuliffe, where they were trapped in Bastogne in the Battle of the Bulge. At the end of World War II, he was in Burches Gaden. He next moved to England and while there he enrolled at the University of Cambridge. After World War II, the army sent him to Cornell University where he received a Masters Degree. He also graduated from Command General Staff College at Ft. Leavenworth in Kansas. Colonel Jackson continued to serve his country through active duty service in the Korean and Vietnam Wars. During service to his country, he traveled extensively in Japan and Germany. Eventually, in 1971, Colonel Jackson retired from his active duty status at Fort Gordon as a member of the General''s Staff. Later in life, he enjoyed his career as a broker with Lakeside Realty which led him to retirement on Lake Oconee in Putnam County. He recently had lived at Willow Run Retirement Home. Colonel Jackson was a member of the First United Methodist Church of Greensboro.

He was preceded in death by his son, Robert Lee Jackson, III; and siblings, Mary Akins, Osborne Jackson and Gene Jackson. He is survived by a daughter-in-law, Sharon Yeates Jackson, of Eatonton, GA; a grandson, Robert Lee Jackson, IV of Snellville, GA; two granddaughters, Kimberly Jackson Clarke and husband Peter Clarke of Roswell, GA and Virginia Jackson Butts and husband Christopher Butts of Athens, GA; five great grandchildren, Mary Scott Butts, Margaret Smith Butts, Charles Jackson Butts, Campbell Hope Clarke and Jackson Warner Clarke; a very dear friend and companion, Clara Bennett Jackson; and a number of other relatives and friends.

Funeral Services will be held on Saturday, May 31, 2008 at 2:00 p.m. at the First United Methodist Church in Greensboro, GA with Rev. Ira McKeever officiating. Interment with full military honors will follow at Greensboro City Cemetery. The family will receive friends from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Friday night at the funeral home. The family requests that memorials be made to the First United Methodist Church, P. O. Box 216, Greensboro, GA 30642. McCommons Funeral Home, 109 W. Broad St., Greensboro, GA, (706) 453-2626, is in charge of arrangements. Visit us at www.mccommonsfuneralhome.com to sign the online guest register.